


Story Time

by Shouting_at_God_in_Latin



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 14:10:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14546409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shouting_at_God_in_Latin/pseuds/Shouting_at_God_in_Latin
Summary: Why everyone trusts Finn





	Story Time

“Why Rogue?”

Leia looked up from the statistics. It was their third week on Hoth, and Han was already starting to get on her nerves.

“Why what?” she sighed, raising her eyebrows at Han disapprovingly. He had his snow covered boots up against her workstation. He still had on his jacket on and goggles on his head. Luke sat a bit farther off, coat and boots back in his closet where they belonged. He was also looking at Han.

“Why Rogue?” he said again, “You guys have all these teams that fly around in X-wings, and you give them little team code names. At the death star there was team Blue and team Red--”

“Team?” asked Luke, “I think we’re all on the same team.”

“Well, I just figured that the other --” he paused, “groups -- would be colors too. Where’s group green and purple?”

“Purple?” monotoned Leia, with a hint of a smile.

“Yeah, I want to be Purple leader.” responded Han.

“You want to be a squad leader?” said Leia, “You can be, you have the qualifications.

You should be. You should stay.”

“No, that’s not the point.”

“Why don’t you want to be a squad leader? You’re the best pilot we have.”

“This conversation has gone astray.”

“This is a conversation?”

“You haven’t answer my question!”

“You haven’t answered mine, either!”

“I asked mine first, princess!”

Leia huffed and sat back in her chair, “What was the question again?”

“Why Rogue?” he asked in his calm way.

She hated when he did that. He went from arguing to completely aloof in seconds. Stretched back against his chair with his hands behind his head and his eyebrows raised. She hated the way he called her “princess” or “your highness” when they argued, and how he always found her strict attitude amusing. 

“Because.” she snapped.

“What kind of answer is that?” he snapped back “What are you nine?” 

Leia felt like he had punched her in the face. It wasn’t his fault, he didn’t know, but it was too late. The memories came back, tears started to swell up in her eyes. She turned away, pretending to look at another board. Han would not see her cry. Unfortunately she turned in Luke’s direction.

“What’s wrong?!” said Luke, jumping up from his chair and moving closer to her. She didn’t want to talk to him. Or Han. They were the only two friends she had, and she couldn’t talk to them about this.

“What did I say?” said Han. He looked confused, his mouth opened and his eyebrows raised like he didn’t know a thing. She hated him. 

“It’s nothing.” she snapped. They both looked at her with raised eyebrows. She has never cried in front of them before.  

“I only asked about a stupid group name” he said, “Of all the things in your life to cry about, princess, this --” 

“It’s not that!” she snapped, “Well, it is but --” 

She sighed and put her head in her hands. Why was she such a mess? She felt Luke’s hand on her shoulder and heard Han take his feet of the table. Great, she thought, he thinks this is serious.

“Rogue is a memorial of sorts.” she explained, taking her head out of her hands to look at them.

“A memorial?” asked Luke.

She nodded.

“For a group of rebels. They went against orders on a suicide mission. When the base asked for a call sign, one of the group came up with ‘Rogue One’, they ended up being called that. They all died on the mission.”

“All of them?” asked Luke with aw in his voice.

Leia nodded, “The entire base they were on was destroyed by the Death Star. And they were outnumbered by hundreds.”

She looked at the two of them, both had gotten slightly pale, even Han, so she knew he were taking it seriously. 

“Ever wonder why there’s no Rogue One?”

“What?” said Han.

“It goes Rogue leader and then Rouge Two, they skip one, but the other flight squads have a one.”

“I never thought about it.” he said.

“We kept out one, to honor them.”

“What was their mission for?”

Luke had asked. She paused, staring at him. Finally she said:

“How do you think I got the death star plans?”

There was a definite silence after that.

“I always assumed --” he stopped. 

“They went and got it off of a base on Scarif. Twenty rebels, spy’s mostly, breaking into a heavily guarded facility and transmitting plans to the ships outside the towns force field. They all died and my ship was the only one to get away with the plans.”

There was a very deep silence. The three of them sat there. Staring in different directions, thinking about the group of heroes that saved the rebellion. 

“I don’t mean to be insensitive” said Han, breaking the silence. 

“But you’ll do it anyway” said Leia

“While destroying the Death Star, two whole groups died. I mean, your entire home planet was destroyed. Why did my mentioning the term ‘Rogue’ make you break down?”

“I didn’t break down.”

“You cried”

“I got teary eyed, that’s not breaking down.”

“It is for you.” 

She paused. Then said:

“It wasn’t that you mentioned Rogue One, exactly. It was that combined with -- “

“Combined with what” Luke asked.

“Combined with you calling me nine.”

Pause.

“You’re kidding.” 

“Just --”

“It was a stupid come back for you giving me ‘because’ as an answer.” 

She looked at Han, he was gaping at her.

“I was nine the last time I saw her.”

Pause.

“Saw who?” asked Han.

“Jyn Erso.” said Leia, “She was the only other kid at the meetings for the rebellion. My father brought me along. Her adoptive father brought her to every meeting as well. She was seven years older than me but she was nice. I knew her for years. She calmed me down once when my father didn’t come back with the rest of his squadron when I was six. She was the leader of the Rogue One team. Died on Scarif. She --” 

Leia paused

“She didn’t make it out.”

Pause.

“You last saw her when you were nine?” asked Luke.

“Yes. It was-- it was a sort of snowball effect. She was the only friend close to my age I ever had before you two, when I heard that ships were being re-routed to Scarif to help them I had to go -- and then that started everything. My dad died a day later… the battle of the Death Star a day after that. I don’t know. I’m -- I’m being stupid.”

There was a long pause. Luke patted her on the back, she stared at the opposite wall, thinking about the last time she saw Jyn. 

 

They had been coloring. Jyn was sixteen, she was technically watching Leia while their fathers were talking. Leia remembers their dads were having an argument. They were the only four in the room. 

Jyn’s father really scared Leia at the time, and probably still would if he was still alive. He had two prosthetic legs that were different sizes. His spin was almost all electronic and he walked with a cane, more like a club. 

Leia was putting the finishing touches on her drawing when the argument got loud enough for her to hear. 

“I don’t like what you’re insinuating, Organa” growled Jyn’s dad, Saw Gerrera.

“I’m not the one insinuating it Saw, I’m trying to warn you.”

“Well, thank you for the warning, but I don’t have to make up my mind on this particular subject”

“How long do you think you could have hid this from the rest of the rebellion?!”

“There was nothing to hid! I have the right to talk to anyone and save the life of anyone I wish!”

“I know that. And what you did was very noble.”

“Thank you”

“-- But”

“There shouldn’t be a ‘but’”

“Saw! An Imperial scientist?”

“Wow, she’s a bit young to be an Imperial scientist, don’t you think?”

“Since when are you sarcastic?”

“Since when are you heartless?”

Her father’s voice drop back to a normal volume but Leia could still hear him.

“I am just saying that some people here -- not me -- but some people want to use her as a hostage--”

“Humph! I thought this was the good side.”

“I agree with you.”

“Well, thank you very much for the warning. I think I will get back to work now, if you don’t mind.”

Saw Gerrera turned back to his chart and Leia turned back to her coloring. Jyn was staring at her father. When Leia asked what was wrong, she snapped back to earth.

“It’s nothing Leia” she said with the sweet and genuine smile she always had when she spoke to her. 

Later that day, her father got into another argument with another man he worked with. 

He was sitting with Leia and Jyn, which he never did in the base. And looking around nervously. Leia did not pay much thought to it but she saw Jyn look very nervous as well, and constantly glancing back around the room.

“Where’s Saw?” she asked.

“In a meeting” said Leia’s father, “He’ll be back soon”

That didn’t seem to calm her nerves. A man walked up to us and said hello to Leia’s father. He seemed annoyed.

“Why aren’t you in the meeting?” asked Her father.

The man looked even more annoyed. He grabbed her father by the arm and pulled him out of earshot. When he returned the other man was not with him. But he was red with anger. 

About an hour later Saw Gerrera showed up at the table. Leia scooted away from him like she always did when he drew near, but he did not seem to notice.

He looked straight at Leia’s father. 

“You were right” said her father.

Saw Gerrera was livid. 

“Jyn, get up. We’re leaving.” 

Jyn stood and started towards the door to grab her backpack.

“Bye Leia” she said, smiling her nice smile. 

Saw followed her, but he moved slower.

“When will you be back?” her father called after him.

“Oh, I don’t think I will be.” Saw responded “Have a nice life, Organa.”

 

Leia had never asked her father what that was about, but now it was too late.

“Who else was in the group?” 

It was Han again. He always had a way of asking random questions. 

“What group?”

“Rogue One. You said there was a group of about twenty rebels, who were they?”

“There’s a list of them on some memorial somewhere… I’m not sure.”

She thought for a moment. “They weren’t all rebels.” she remembered.

“They weren’t?” said Han. She almost laughed. That was something he could relate to.

“Yeah there were -- there were a few Guardians of the Whills.”

“The what?” asked Luke.

“The Whills on Jeddah. There were two or three that made it out before the Death Star destroyed the Holy City.”

“The Death Star did what?” said Luke. 

“Wait, I heard about that.” said Han, “I thought it was a mining accident.”

“That’s what they spread around.” explained Leia, “Where did you hear about it? You were on the run with Luke a day later.”

“I went there to pick up these two outlaws who were smuggling out cargo and brought them to Tatooine. When we got there a bartender asked where I just came from. I told him, and he told me a mining accident had just blown up to entire city.”

“Those two guys you transported out were really lucky, then” observed Leia.

“Not really lucky,” said Han “Old Ben took off one of their arms a few hours after we got back.” 

Luke laughed.

“Are those the only ones who weren’t rebels” asked Luke after he was done laughing.

“Yeah,” said Leia, “No, wait… There was an Imperial cargo pilot”

There was a stunned silence. 

“An Imperial pilot?” asked Luke, “What was he doing there?”

“He was a defector, he came to the rebellion and told them about the plans on Scarif” 

“And they just believed him?” 

“Of course not. Why do you think the group had to go against orders? No one would listen to him. If we had we -- we might have been able to save Jeddah and Scarif.”

They thought about that. 

“That can’t happen again” Luke said. He was already getting used to being a leader, making changes. “What was the pilot's name?” 

“We don’t know.” said Leia.

“What?!” gaped Han 

“Nobody ever asked him,” she explained. “The only ones to know died with him.”

The gaped at her.

“You’re telling me, that this guy threw away his entire life, told you about the death star, and died what I am only assuming to be a very painful death, all for you, and you never asked his name?” spat Han.

“I never laid eyes on the guy, so I doubt he died for  _ me _ , but yes that about sums it up.”

“Yeah, that  _ really  _ can’t happen again.” Luke chimed in.    

“What do you suggest, kid?” asked Han.

“We assume that if someone defects from the empire they did to help us.”

“What if they didn’t? What if we trust him and he turns out to be a spy?” asked Leia.

“I don’t think that would happen.” replied Luke.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t think that particular idea is one the empire wants as an option. I doubt they want their followers to think it would be possible to leave the empire. So if they actually do, we know it’s genuine.”

Leia looked at him. He had a good heart, but he could be naive.

Luke saw her look and said:

“How can we call ourselves the good guys if we don’t act like it?”

There was no argument for that. 

“Then it’s settled.” said Han, “If someone defects from the empire, we learn his name  _ before _ he dies for the cause.”

The tension broke and soon they were all laughing. Leia could tell that this was the beginning of a great friendship. The last one she’s had since Jyn Erso.

  
  


Han walked across the Falcon. He had his ship back at last, but at what cost? He had fallen back into the rebellion. A map to find Luke. He had to get the droid to Leia. And he  _ could not  _ go back to Leia. And then there were the kids. Han couldn’t help but like the girl. She was smart, and resourceful. But the guy. He was hiding something. He wasn’t in the resistance. That much was obvious. The way he always looked worried, the way he looked guilty when the girl said he was in the resistance. But where was he from? The girl, Rey, said he had tried to save the droids master from the First Order. He was dressed all in black. Han knew from his time on the Death Star that stormtroopers wore all black under their armor. This kid was a stormtrooper, impersonating a rebel, and trying to get Rye to go to some random system. 

Han was ready to throw the guy into the airlock and send him floating back home. 

Then he calmed down. He didn’t know the kid’s system was the wrong one. Maybe he was alright. 

That is when Han remembered the discussion with Leia and Luke. It felt like so long ago, but he couldn’t shake that feeling. The unnamed cargo pilot. He decided to let the kid go on with his lie. 

They got to Maz’s place. Rey led the way into the place. That’s when Han remembered. 

“Hey kid, what’s your name?” He asked.

The stormtrooper looked surprised, but then said “Finn.”

He seemed proud of it. Han smiled and nodded. He had kept the pact. It would've made Luke proud if he were there.

  
  
  


Leia listened to Poe debrief. He was the best they had, and even he hadn’t gotten the map. 

“How did you escape the ship?” she asked, trying to hide her sadness.

Poe looked at her, as if unsure what to say.

“A stormtrooper helped me.”

“What do you mean?”

“This stormtrooper was trying to run for it. He needed a pilot and escorted me to the hanger so we could both escape.”

Leia thought that over. He was like the pilot. It was unbelievable.

“What happened to him?”

“I don’t know. I woke up in the desert and he wasn’t there. But I think he survived.”

Leia nodded. 

“Put the word out for the droid to any friends we have.”

“Yes ma’am” said Poe and started towards the door. 

“Poe.” she called after him.

“Yes, General?”

“What’s his name?”

“He didn’t have one. They never gave him one over there. But the first two letters of his code was FN so I named him Finn. He seemed to like that.”

“Finn… thank you.”

Poe nodded and left the room.

“Finn.” Leia said again to herself. 

This one wouldn’t be forgotten. This one would be given a home. 


End file.
